LAVALU

LAVALU

“It is so breathtakingly beautiful, that indeed she resides at a lonely height.”Subjectivisten

“LAVALU’s low volume music has inner-circle favourite written all over it”Here Comes The Flood

“Desolate and hauntingly beautiful.”
8weekly

As an artist LAVALU scratches the back of classical
music while poking the fires of pop.

She recently wrote and recorded a contemporary song cycle,
inspired by composers such as: Schubert and Schumann.
Piano. Voice. Honest and bare.
Lyrics that can be read as stories about blunt desire.
She’s a contemporary romantic.

‘Solitary High’ is her finest work to date.
She has succeeded in developing a style
in which influences of the great singer-songwriters
and Debussy and Satie can be heard, combined.

Other projects

1st of June

1st of June

1st of June are an indie-pop duo, hailing from the Netherlands.
Gerhardt & LAVALU.
Two voices blending perfectly,
with minimal guitar, piano and stomp-box accompaniment.
It’s dark, it’s moody.
Because nighttime is the right time.

Het pauperparadijs

Het pauperparadijs

Het Pauperparadijs tells one of the most dramatic, hidden histories of The Netherlands. Back in the 19th century general Johannes van den Bosch wanted to help the extremely poor, but what started out as a beautiful ideal turned dark in the end.

The play is based on the book by Suzanna Jansen and is performed on the historic site where the actual events took place. Last summer it sold out completely: 40.000 people saw our indie pop opera. This season we’ll be performing yet another 45 shows.

For me as a composer Het Pauperparadijs has been one of the biggest challenges ever. How do you capture the outcries, the laughter and the weeping of people who have never really been heard in music? Even tough I write mostly for classical ensembles and piano this opera needed to be about pop music: blues pulled from the peateries, a northern European kind of chain gang songs and a dutch classic singalong Bij ons in de Jordaan… only in a minor key.

We’ve created an album these past months featuring the songs I’ve written.The record has been produced by Gerhardt, mixed by Peter Schmidt (Berlin) and mastered by Bob Olhsson (Nashville, USA).It has turned out beautifully.You can purchase it after the shows in Veenhuizen or via www.bol.com.

SalonConcerts

SalonConcerts

Back in the 19th century people used to host evenings
with live music and other arts at their own homes.
In their “salon”.
Composers like Schubert or Chopin wrote piano pieces
and songs especially for these evenings.

I love to bring this tradition back.Solitary High is even inspired by this chamber music.

Would you like to hear Solitary High in your very own salon?
Please feel free to send me an email through bookings@lavalu.nl
The only real requirement is that you have (or hire) a real piano.
It can be an upright one or a grand one, as long as it’s an actual one.

Piano day

Piano day

Happy Piano Day!

Piano Day celebrates music for the piano in all shapes and forms.
Dozens of events take place around the world on the 88th day of the year to honor the piano and it’s music.
As I love to break boundaries and mix genres, in the past 2 years I have received artists ranging from
Jeroen van Vliet (jazz pianist) to Nikola Meeuwsen (classical concert pianist) to Marianne Oldenburg (singer from Ode to the Quiet).
The idea for Arnhem (NL) is a maximum of 100 people all seated around a grand piano and so far it’s been magical.

The next event will take place on March 28th, 2018.
Location and line up will all be revealed in the weeks leading up to our evening.
Keep an eye out for the invite on the LAVALU Facebook page!
And be sure to enlist as soon as you can, because it sells out pretty fast!